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IRAQI CLAIM TO KUWAIT 251
Turkish Empire'. Regarding the 1899 Agreement, the statement con­
tinued, it was terminated on 19 June 1961, and Kuwait consequently
emerged as a fully sovereign and independent State.1 Following
reports of movements of Iraqi troops to the Kuwaiti borders, the
Ruler requested the British Government for military assistance under
the provisions of the treaty of 1961.2 He also requested on 2 July the
Security Council of the United Nations to consider the Iraqi ‘threat
of the invasion of Kuwait'. Simultaneously, he formally applied for
the membership of his country to the United Nations Organisation.
But on 7 July the Soviet Union’s representative at the Security
Council vetoed a resolution aiming at recognising the independence
of Kuwait.3 By the end of July, the independence of Kuwait was
formally recognised by all the Arab League countries, with the ex­
ception of Iraq, and by a number of European nations, also by the
United States of America. On 20 July Kuwait was admitted, against
Iraq's opposition, to the full membership of the Arab League.1 In
October, the British troops completed their withdrawal from Kuwait,
at the request of the Ruler. Another request for United Nations
membership was again rejected by the Security Council in November,
owing to the Soviet Union’s veto.5 The latter’s objection was based on
the argument that Kuwait was not yet qualified as an independent
State, and that the 1961 treaty with Britain subjected her to foreign
political influence.6
On 8 February 1963 a military revolution overthrew the Govern­
ment of rAbd al-Karim Qasim and assumed power in Iraq. The
Council of Ministers of the new Iraqi Government declared its inten­
tion to ease the state of tension which was then prevailing between
Iraq and Kuwait. Consequently, the new Iraqi regime took steps aim­
ing at the gradual relinquishment of Qasim’s claim to Kuwait. Mean­
while, the Russian hostility towards Kuwait receded. And on 7 May
1963 Kuwait's application for membership of the United Nations
was approved by the Security Council, upon the recommendation of
which Kuwait was elected by the General Assembly as the 111th
member of the United Nations.7

1 The Government of Kuwait (Printing and Publishing Department), The
Kuwaiti-Iraqi Crisis (1961), pp. 3-4; The Times, 27 June 1961.
2 The Times, 27, 28, 29 June 1961. And sec above. Chapter 5.
3 For these developments, see The Times, 3, 6, 7 July; Middle East Journal, 15
(1961), pp. 433-5.
4 The Times, 22 July 1961; Middle East Journal, op. cit.
6 Y.U.N., 1961, pp. 168-9; Middle East Journal, 16 (1962), pp. 70-1.
6 Y.U.N., 1961, pp. 168-9; Kuwait Government Centre, New York, Press
Release, 1 December 1961.
7 Y.U.N., 1963, pp. 91-2; MEES, 24 May 1963. For earlier developments, sec
Middle East Journal, 17 (1963), pp. 120 et seq.; MEES, No. 24, 19 April 1963;
The Observer (London Weekly), 2 June 1963.